Apology
by ZizhunWriter
Summary: One-shot. Killian goes to Archie to apologize for kidnapping him. Will Archie forgive him, or is there more to this situation than Killian thought?


Archie heard the knock on the door, and he finished writing his last sentence. He wondered who would be visiting him at such a late hour. He opened the door, and instantly took a step back, turning pale despite his best efforts not to.

"Hello, mate," Killian greeted, sounding unsure of himself. The pirate was looking down at his feet more than he was at the psychiatrist. Instead of gently prompting Killian to get whatever it was off his chest, Archie tried to fight the fear racing through his system. "I just … wanted to apologize. You know, for kidnapping you."

Killian's eyes finally lifted from his shoes as he looked Archie in the eyes, waiting anxiously to hear if his apology would be accepted. Archie looked deep in his eyes, and he could see the reason for the apology. It certainly wasn't because he felt like what he did was wrong.

"Come back when you mean that."

"What? Of course I mean it, mate! Do you think I'd be here if I didn't?"

"I think you're doing this for Emma, and it has nothing to do with me. Not really." Archie tried to close the door, but Killian put his foot in the way, before forcing his way into the room.

If Archie had been pale before, he was white as a ghost now. He backed up, and Pongo, sensing his master's nervousness, moved in between him and the pirate. The dog growled, and Archie told him to hush. After all, he wasn't in any real danger; he knew that. It didn't stop the terror filling him, but he knew Killian wasn't going to hurt him; this time.

"Okay, so maybe Emma was the one that reminded me I need to apologize to you. That doesn't mean this isn't sincere."

"Is it, though? Would you be here if Emma didn't want you to be?"

Killian's eyes narrowed. Why couldn't the Cricket just accept his apology and get it over with? But then, when he stopped to actually think about what Archie was implying, he realized the man was right. He was simply doing this for Emma; it had nothing to do with actually feeling remorse for what he'd done. And that troubled him.

"A bit of advice; you have to be good because you want to be, not because Emma does. If that's the case, the second she's gone, you'll end up becoming a villain again." Not able to do anything else about the situation, Killian stormed out of the office.

Archie sighed with relief, sinking into the couch. Pongo lay his head on his master's lap, still worried about him. Archie mindlessly stroked the dog's head, and tried to stop himself from shaking. He hoped that never, ever, happened again.

…

Killian walked out of the building, to see Emma and Ruby in a fierce argument. "For the last time Ruby, Killian isn't going to hurt Archie!"

"Why not? He's done it before, remember?!"

"Yes, I do, and if you'll remember, he's changed a lot since then!"

"Okay, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to leave him alone with Archie!"

Killian cleared his throat, and both women turned to face him. "I didn't hurt the Cricket," he informed Ruby. The waitress sighed with relief, not even having the decency to seem embarrassed that he'd heard her talking so badly about him. She brushed past him, toward the shrink's office, not doubt to check on him.

"Ruby's just concerned about him, that's all. I don't think she thinks you're a bad guy," Emma informed him. "So, how'd it go?"

He couldn't tell her about how he'd realized he was only trying to be good for her, that he didn't truly care about how he'd wronged Archie. He was still too ashamed to. "He didn't accept my apology."

Emma looked shocked for a second. "Well, I'm sure he will eventually. Just give him time." Unable to tell Emma that he was the one who needed more time, he simply nodded. He needed to figure out how to want to be good, for the sake of being good, and not just for Emma. Otherwise, he'd let Emma down.

…

Someone knocked on the door, again. Archie was seriously considering not answering, when Pongo's tail started to wag. That meant it was someone the dog really liked; so either Marco, Henry, or Ruby. He could handle talking to one of them.

He opened the door to discover his guess had been correct, and Ruby was standing there, worry written all over her face. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. We just talked." He was surprised she was worried about his discussion with Hook. After all, most people had forgotten the pirate's crimes. Apparently, she was one of the few who hadn't.

"You sure? You look pretty pale." He'd always hated how people could read him like an open book, just judging by the color of his face.

"Yes. I'm fine." She sighed, not liking his answer, but at least she didn't press him any further. Instead, they just stood there, awkwardly.

Suddenly, a sob escaped from Archie, and he sunk back into the couch, burying his head in his hands. Pongo immediately put his head in his master's lap again, and Ruby just stood there for a second, having no idea what to do.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, trying to wipe tears from his eyes. "I shouldn't have … I should get home."

"Or you could tell me what's bothering you." He froze from where he was about to shove papers into his briefcase. "Like you always say, talking about it can help."

"Ruby, I don't want to burden you."

"You mean, like how you let people burden you every day? Come on, Archie, let me help you." He sighed, but walked back over and sat down on the couch. She sat down in one of the chairs, probably the one Archie usually sat in.

"It's just that being with him; alone, brought up some bad memories." He stopped there, as if that was all he needed to say, when both he and Ruby knew that wasn't all.

"Um, what type of bad memories?" Ruby asked. Trying to be a psychiatrist with absolutely no knowledge of how to be one made this difficult.

He shuddered suddenly as memories he'd much rather forget were dragged to the front of his brain. "Killian didn't hurt me that badly, just a few bruises, but I was helpless. I couldn't stop him." His voice sounded raspy, like he was fighting against another bout of crying. "The nightmares don't help."

"Nightmares?" Ruby asked, shocked. She didn't know Archie was having nightmares about this. In fact, she'd asked Marco about it to make sure he was alright, and the carpenter had said Archie was fine. Which meant, this was the first time he was telling anyone about it.

"Yeah," he whispered, sounding so weak. He didn't tell her what specifically happened in the dreams, but Ruby could easily envision Hook torturing him until he begged for mercy. It made her blood boil, even if Killian actually hadn't done that.

She got up from her the chair, and instead sat next to him on the couch. She wanted to be closer to him; to protect him. "How often do you have these nightmares?"

"Almost every night." And suddenly, before she could stop herself, she was hugging him. He just looked so sad that she couldn't help herself. Instead of jerking away, like she thought he would, he hugged her back; sobbing into her shoulder.

She waited for him to pull away from her before she started to gently lecture him. "Archie, you need to talk to someone about this. Me, Marco, someone. But you can't just let this eat away at you." He nodded mutely, looking at his hands instead of her.

"I am talking about it with you," he whispered. He was kind of discussing his issues with her, but he hadn't really gotten that far. Maybe, though, they could do that next time, because she really couldn't stand to see him crying again.

"Okay, so, same time next week?" He chuckled slightly, as if only now realizing she was playing psychiatrist.

"Maybe a little earlier? I'm not usually here at ten o'clock at night."

"Sure."

He got up then, to go home, and part of Ruby didn't want to let him; not when she knew he was going to have nightmares. "You know, we don't have to be done yet," she blurted. "I mean, you could teach me how to play this." She motioned toward his chess board, which was usually in a cupboard, but he had it out right now.

A small smile spread across his face. "Sure."

It didn't take long for Ruby to distract him enough for him to start laughing. He probably thought she was a terribly slow learner, because she purposely pretended not to get it, just to make him laugh. Saying things like, 'But horses typically move a lot faster than bishops,' and 'Regina inspired this game, didn't she? That's why the King's so much weaker than the Queen,' really made him laugh, so she kept it up for a while.

Finally, when she caught him yawing for the third time, she decided she should let him go home, and hopefully get some rest.

"Thank you, Ruby," he said as they stood on the street in front of his office, neither really wanting to part ways.

"No problem. I'll call you tomorrow, to set up our next appointment."

"Okay." Again, they just stood there, neither really knowing what to say.

"So, see you later." With that, Ruby turned and headed toward her apartment.

"You too," Archie called after her, before heading toward his own home. He found himself looking forward to hearing from her the next day, and having sessions with her. Just because he was the town's psychiatrist didn't mean he didn't need council himself. And finally, he was going to talk with someone he trusted, who wanted nothing other than to help him. Maybe having nightmares wasn't such a bad thing after all. Not if it meant he would finally have someone he could entrust his deepest secrets with.


End file.
